Can't Steal Love
by Raefire6
Summary: Leo, Mikey and Don have been turned into toddlers and have been captured by the Foot. What would big brother Raphael do to get them back? Can he and Karai reach an understanding? Can either of them handle three little turtle tots? Multiple chapters
1. Chapter 1

Karai held the small bundle tightly, as if afraid that if she loosened her grip for even a second, the small creature would squirm out of her grasp. Good reason followed this fear, as the bundle seemed to have no intention of being anywhere near her, let alone in her arms. He kicked and struggled, trying as hard as he possibly could to pull away, to get away. But the strength of one small child was insignificant compared to the seasoned warrior who now held him tightly in her arms. She pulled the blood-red blanket around him once more, wrapping the child in a suffocating cocoon, one he could not hope to escape. Sown into the cloth, the small black symbol of the Foot Clan shifted menacingly as the child once again tried to wiggle out of the female ninja's hold, a small whimper coming from his otherwise silent mouth.

"Shhhh… child," the woman soothed, bring her lips as close to the bundle as she dared. "It will all be over soon."

A sudden gust of chilling wind followed her words and for a moment the rebellious child actually retreated further into the blanket for warmth. Karai smiled. Maybe it had been wise to bring the child out with her after all. She stood on the edge of a rooftop, city surrounding her on all sides. The sound of New York nightlife echoed beneath her, filled with the beeps and honks of midnight traffic along the freeway and never sleeping locals going about their usual business. The voices of small business salesman singing their products' worth seemed to almost drown out the roar of the speeding cars, and, in turn, the constant rumble of ever moving feet on concrete overcoming even that noise, creating a large jumble of chaos and confusion.

Karai frowned. She'd always disliked this city, hated the noise, the chaos, the _imperfection._ Her home in Japan had been far more peaceful, far more purposeful. Perhaps it was because she had grown up there, was used to the country's natural beauty and seemly never-ending brush of clean air. That's one thing New York lacked, she had decided the moment she set foot on the island… _air._ Clean air, to be more specific. All the cars, factories, and otherwise useless pollution making machines fogged up the precious oxygen that blanketed the city, producing a very undesirable mess of smoke that went into her lungs like mud down a pipe, making her cough and gag every time she tried to take a real breath.

Though, of course, this was nothing compared to the _smell_. Despite the added smog produced by such activities, New Yorkers daily stashed rotting trash and garbage in every little corner they could find, giving the entire city an overall odor of a decaying corpse.

The ninja sighed. She had put up with it, of course, out of regard for her father, Oroku Saki… or, as his enemies will always call him, the Shedder. Karai shook her head. It had been his request that she even come to this city all those years ago, and yet she hadn't seen him in almost as long. Her father had been taken, exiled, onto a frozen meteorite floating no closer to Earth or any other planet. Sometimes she pretended she missed him or wanted him back out of the love of her heart, but even she couldn't keep up that masquerade long. The truth was she didn't miss her father… not in the daughter prospect, anyway. Karai needed him back to lead her and their clan, to be the Master everyone expected her to be in his absence, to take revenge on his enemies and seal their fate in their blood. What she didn't need was his constant scowl or those soulless eyes piercing into her as if scanning her for any mistake, any imperfection that he could punish her for. No, it wasn't love that had kept her by his side and under his thumb all these years, as she sometimes claimed it to be. No, it most certainly wasn't love.

It was fear.

The child in her arms shivered in the cold, and Karai couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the youngling. Perhaps she had better take him inside to warm up. After all, the child certainly didn't need to be out in the open in the freezing late evening. Or was it early morning? She had lost track of how much time had passed since this whole business with the child had started a few nights ago. She looked down at the small bundle with her dull grey eyes and wondered if he even remembered anything about himself, about his family… about her. Karai shook the thought away, reminding herself that it really didn't matter. The child was hers now, and she was going to take care of him from now on. Him… and the two others.

She released the child with one hand and quickly pulled out a small headset that she had stored in her belt. Placing it over her long dark flowing hair and onto her head, she spoke softly but firmly into the mike. "Report."

"_The packages are secure, Mistress Karai."_ The responding Foot soldier answered.

"Excellent. Bring the copter in, but be mindful of the packages. They're of no use to us damaged."

_"Yes, Mistress Karai. It will be done."_ He replied. The soldier's deep voice failed to cover up the high pitched voices in the back ground that came through the headset. Karai frowned as she made out the whines of the two packages, their tone more than their words voicing their distress.

_"Leave us alone!"_ She heard Michelangelo cry out, his five-year-old voice piercing through the headset. Donatello was obviously crying as well, if the sobs were anything to go by.

_"Please,"_ Karai could just make out the purple-banded turtle tot's words, his plea being much quieter than his brother's. She could imagine his pitiful five-year-old face as he pleaded with his captures. _"Please let us go… I want my older brother… Please… I want Raphie! I'm scared!"_

More sobs followed and Karai inwardly groaned. Who would have known the turtles would be more trouble as toddlers than they ever were as teenagers?

_"Mistress Karai?"_ The soldier asked, obviously noticing she had been silent for many moments. _"The two turtles are strapped into the helicopter and are ready to be transported to your location. Once you and the third turtle are on board, we can leave the city at once. Do you have any more orders?"_

Karai mentally shook herself. There would be time to worry about the turtles' disobedience later, at the moment she needed to focus on getting them and herself out of the city as quickly as possible… before a certain _older brother _finds them.

"No, no other orders. Just get here as quickly as you can and keep an eye out for Raphael. Underestimating him right now would be a grave mistake."

_"As you command, Mistress."_

"And soldier?"

_"Yes, Mistress?"_

"Tell them that if they behave, I _might_ let them see their brother again. Donatello and Michelangelo should be more cooperative after that."

_"Acknowledged."_ And with that, the soldier cut off their communication.

Karai turned off her own headset and replaced it into her belt. The child in her arms started squirming once again, as if he had heard and understood her conversation with the soldier. She frowned, wondering if the child had also heard the voices of his brothers through the headset as well.

Karai placed a gentle hand on the child's forehead, silently asking him to be calm. The small creature paid her no heed as he continued to struggle in her arms, little hands popping out of the red blanket and tugging it away from his face. Two watery grey eyes peered up at her through the eye-holes of his bright blue bandanna. Karai tried to smile at the little one though her patience with the turtle was wearing very thin.

"Calm down, Leonardo." She said softly. "Everything's going to be alright, you'll see."

"No!" The former-teen cried out, tears spilling down his face. "Let me go! I want to go home!"

The female ninja's smile vanished though she forced her voice to remain calm. "But we _are_ going home, child. Japan will be your new home, you and your younger brothers'. You'll like it there, Leonardo, there are plenty of trees and flowers… clean air too. Everything a growing ninja could possibly need."

"I don't want to go!" Leonardo cried. "I want to stay here! Where's Raphie? I want my big brother!"

That was where Karai's patience snapped. Raphael was not technically Leonardo's older brother… in fact, it was the other way around. But the events of the past few nights have obviously not only changed the blue-banded turtle's age, but his sense of who was who. If Karai was being honest with herself she would find that it was perfectly logical that Leonardo and his brothers had attached themselves to Raphael, him being the only one not affected for reasons still unknown, as a protector and older brother figure… and for the younger two that was perfectly fine because Raphael actually _was_ their older brother. But hearing the same dependence on the red-banded turtle coming from _Leonardo's_ mouth… him being the eldest, the leader, the one the others usually depended on… it was just too much.

"_I'm_ going to take care of you now." Karai told the toddler, her voice sounding colder than she had intended. "You don't need Raphael anymore."

"I _do _need Raphie!" Leonardo whined, the seemly endless tears moistening the red blanket. "I need him to hold me… t-to chase way the monsters… to chase away _you_! I want to be with him!"

Karai's bottom lip curled into a distasteful frown. Not that it mattered much to her that Leonardo had chosen Raphael over her yet again, but it was just… Just _wrong_! Wrong that this little child, whose loyalty should have belonged to whoever gave him warmth, food and a future, could possibly refuse her care in favor of an angry, reckless, irresponsible mutant teen who so far hasn't done a very good job of keeping him and his brothers safe! Wrong that after everything she has in store for them, the beauty, the training, and the chance to grow up like a proper ninja, become part of a powerful clan, they still cry out for the brother that isn't even with them! They didn't need Raphael! _She_ will raise them! _She_ will take care of them and make them great ninjas in the Foot clan! _She_ will be their family! _Not Raphael!_

The female ninja's sour frown suddenly morphed into a slimy smile. She gently kissed the blue-clad turtle's forehead, causing him to whine and squirm.

"You'll see things my way as the years go on, Leonardo." She told him, all warmth gone from her voice. "You will never see that idiot Raphael ever again. You and your brothers will grow up to become the greatest ninjas in the Foot clan. Together we will continue my father's mission of a world ruled by a single idea… complete and utter obedience to our clan!"

Her smile grew wider as Leonardo's eyes clouded with fear, not understanding the weight of her words but sensing the evil in her voice.

"The Foot shall rule and no one will be able to stand against us!" Karai laughed. She pulled Leonardo closer to her chest, suddenly liking the tears that were streaming down his cheeks. "Now, _my child_," She emphasized. "You will be with me from this moment on, and you will be mine. My only regret is that I have just given you your entire future… and you don't even understand what I'm saying, do you?"

"But I do." A low voice behind her said.


	2. Chapter 2

Karai froze. It couldn't be. Not now, not when she was so close! It was impossible! _He_ couldn't be here. That was a disaster she didn't want to deal with, one she wasn't sure she could handle. It couldn't be. And yet… she knew it was.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly turned around, still holding Leonardo close. At first she didn't see anyone there, but the ninja inside forced her to narrow her eyes at the flickering shadows cast by the city lights. Gradually, she made out the outline of a giant turtle standing in the blackness in the dim light of the evening. Brown elbow and knee pads protected the warrior's joints with matching wrist bands and a similar belt tied around his waist. His normally emerald reptilian skin seemed to be painted black as his form was masked by shadow. Karai's eyes instantly landed on the silver slivers in the turtle's belt, the blades of what she knew to be duel sai reflecting the moonlight. She inwardly cringed as she recognized the dark red mask, made darker by the darkness surrounding him that was tied around the warrior's face. His features were covered in shadow, making it impossible for Karai to make out his expression. Not that she wanted to, of course.

Strangely enough, the turtle stood relaxed, not rigid like she thought he would be. Perhaps the shadows were masking more than just his face because, seeing him in this light the warrior almost looked… sure. Scary sure. Like he was only watching her, waiting for her to make the incorrect move he knew was coming. And when that happened, he… would consume her. It was a stupid thought to begin with, but looking at him, masked and mysterious in the darkness, Karai couldn't help but wonder how she ever could have been anywhere near him without shivers crawling up her spine.

He stepped towards her, his movements as silent and subtle as a ghost, a feat that only a highly-trained ninja could pull off so effortlessly. It was as if he was part-turtle, part-shadow… his dark muscles moving in an almost invisible motion. Karai was thankful that she too had been trained as a ninja, or else she might have missed the movement all together. It was then that she realized not all his face was hidden in darkness and, even with all her training, all her experience, she had to stop herself from turning tail and running right then. Karai steeled herself, reminding herself that she had faced this warrior plenty of times before and there was nothing she should fear from him. But no matter how she rationalized it, she still couldn't bring herself to look into his seemly glowing amber eyes and the burning anger that no doubt resided in them. Karai desperately tried to ignore the way her heart was beating furiously in her chest, but the truth was undeniable.

He _terrified_ her.

"What do you think you're doing, Karai?" His deep Brooklyn accent seemed to vibrate in her ears and it took every ounce of her willpower not to flinch under his steady gaze. Why did he suddenly have this effect on her?

Karai forced her gaze upward, locking it with his. A feeling of panic formed in her stomach and she suddenly had trouble breathing. Since when had his golden gaze sent such fear through her? At what point had he changed from just the 'angry turtle' to her personal demon? What was so different about him that his anger shook her to her very core instead of giving her strength and superiority?

Of course, the answer was obvious. All those other times he had merely been playing with her, their fight had only been a game to him, more like a work out than an actual fight. And, as Karai had increasingly begun to notice, the presence of his brothers, especially Leonardo, set Raphael back into a place where he could not act fully. They expected him to be the hothead, the reckless one, so he filled that role. But now, when his brothers were nothing more than toddlers and his only audience was Karai herself, his walls of anger and undisciplined rage came crashing down at her feet and what Karai saw underneath scared her more than her father ever had.

Looking into his molten eyes at that moment, Karai wished nothing more than for the hotheaded turtle to return, because in those golden orbs she did not see anger. She did not see hatred. No matter how deep her gaze searched she did not even see simple annoyance. The eyes that locked onto hers, the ninja that stood before her was not the same brother that she had experienced for all these years. His eyes held… nothing. His face was completely expressionless and his muscles were not even tense as he held her gaze. He was calm, controlled, almost disinterested. His lack of anger towards her gave Karai no comfort because her senses as a ninja told her what her eyes did not. Raphael was not angry at her for taking his brothers.

He was enraged.

As seconds passed and Karai still had not answered, Raphael spoke again in the same even tone that, coming from any one of his brothers would be a calming tactic but, coming from Raphael, sounded more like a death sentence.

"Look," He said. "I'm sorry we got your father exiled and that you're still mad at us for it. Now put… My bro… Down."

His voice tensed slightly as he emphasized those last four words, and that little show of emotion gave Karai enough courage to speak.

"You think _that's_ what this is about?" She asked quietly, thankful that her voice didn't shake. "This has _nothing_ to do with my father. I'm _done_ with him. I'm going home to Japan where I belong, away from _you_ and this dreadful city."

For a mere second, Raphael's calm face shattered and a wave of rage crossed his eyes as Karai spat those last few words at him, drawing on an unknown reserve of venom she didn't even know she possessed.

_That's it Karai,_ she silently praised herself. _Get him angry, make him loose control like you have so many times in the past. Don't let him get to you. You're holding all the cards._

But her victory was short-lived as the emotion quickly vanished from the turtle's face and the blank, controlling stare was back.

"Not with them, you're not." He stated, his voice firm and unmoving, as if there was no force on heaven and earth that could prove him wrong. And in that moment Karai had a horrible suspicion that he was correct.

She took a deep breath, not caring for the moment that he would see how shaken she was, and turned away from his gaze. Leonardo whined in her grasp and she clutched him tighter, wondering if the small turtle knew his brother was here to save him.

_Save him…_

"You have no idea what it's like to be abandoned." Karai whispered, her voice breaking. "You don't know what it's like to be alone."


	3. Chapter 3

It was not even possible that Raphael could have held more reserved fury then he did at that moment. She wasn't looking at him too busy staring at the ground with her head bowed, but as a ninja she could still _feel_ the atmosphere change around him and just knew that her words had not calmed his rage. They had spiked it.

"You really believe that, don't you?" His voice was still deep and calm, but she sensed the edge to it like a sharp knife hovering over her flesh. "Well, I have news for you Karai. You think you feel abandoned? You think you are _alone_? You don't know the meaning of the word."

This was not the reply she expected. A snappy comeback? Sure. An indifferent growl? Of course. But condemning words pretty much whispered in her direction as if her pain was his own? Never in a million years.

Hesitantly, Karai raised her gaze from the rooftop and forced herself to meet his eyes. The cold, burning nothingness had not resided an inch, but in their depths she detected the slightest hint of a pain very similar to her own. Curious despite her fear, she stared at him with a new expression of interest.

"But you know, don't you?" She asked slowly, pulling Leonardo closer to her chest as if hoping that the small ninja would protect her if his brother decided to attack her for the small question.

Raphael didn't answer. His expressionless gaze held hers in its golden depths as he slowly stepped towards her and Leonardo. Minutes must have ticked by as he moved, but Karai was not aware of any of them. It seemed like one moment he was standing across from her on the rooftop and the next he was directly in front of her, his nose merely inches from her face. His eyes had never left hers for an instant and Karai could feel her breath catch in her throat.

He stared at her for what felt like an eternity, before he suddenly leaned forward. She flinched backwards, fully expecting him to slice her throat right then and there, but instead of pulling out his sais and doing the deed, Raphael seemed to ignore her presence completely and focused on the bundle she held in her arms. With battle-callused hands, he slowly pulled away the folds of the red blanket, revealing the teary-eyed blue-masked turtle underneath. Without a second's hesitation, he gently placed a soft kiss on the toddler's forehead.

Leonardo instantly calmed and quieted at his touch and the small ninja smiled up at him as his tears stopped flowing. Raphael gave him a small smile back before placing a loving hand on his head and started rubbing his thumb across the small turtle's temple. Leonardo relaxed in Karai's arms and, tears all but gone, his eyes started to droop and before long the former leader had drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

"How did you do that?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, but she didn't try to take them back. For some reason she knew she needed to know his answer.

His gentle hand remaining on his brother's head, Raphael looked up into Karai's shocked face. All the gentle love that he had shown to Leonardo vanished in an instant and his face was expressionless once more.

"Yes, I know what abandonment feels like." He said slowly, his eyes boring into her and shinning with something she couldn't quite define. "I know what it is like to be alone."

He stepped closer to her, his breath heating her skin and his smell filling her senses and placed his hand on her own gloved gauntlet. Karai wanted to pull away, to _run_ away, but she found that she couldn't take her eyes off his and this making her feet feel as if they were glued to the ground. It wasn't an unpleasant closeness as she would have expected it to be. Where she expected the stench of terrapin and sewers, she instead detected the scent of spice. Where she thought she should feel the cold, scaly skin of a reptile, his hand was surprisingly warm and strong. She felt herself captured in his golden gaze with absolutely no hope of escape as she inwardly screamed at herself to do something, to attack him and claim her prize but she couldn't. She then realized that all she could do, maybe all she _wanted_ to do, was stand in his presence and wait for him to speak again.

"But if you want someone to love you Karai," Raphael's voice was deep and quiet, as if he was sharing with her something that he had never before shared with anyone else. He leaned in closer to her -one hand protecting Leonardo, the other still holding her hand- and slowly pressed his lips to hers.

Karai was shocked and surprised at his actions as he kissed her softly, not at all knowing what had led to this turn of events. But she was far more surprised when she felt herself lean forward and return the soft kiss, relishing in the feeling of his warm skin against her chilled lips. She could not believe how good it felt, the release and the protection coming from such a simple action. It almost made her wonder if she had wanted this all along, if all these years she had secretly craved it, hiding the desire from even herself and now she was finally getting what she had always wanted.

Love.

Karai was not sure how long the kiss lasted, but one thing she was very certain about was that Raphael pulled back all too soon. She opened her eyes and stared back into his searching amber orbs, wondering what had made him stop. He stepped back from her, releasing her hand from his grasp but moving his other hand down until he was cradling the sleeping Leonardo's head. He glanced down briefly at his brother, probably making sure he was still sleeping peacefully, before turning his attention back to her.

"If you want someone to love you," He repeated. His free hand slipped between her arm and the red blanket as he spoke, his gaze holding intensity that was more like his normal self. He stared her down and she felt her heart sink before the words even left his mouth.

"You have to give them love first."

With that, Raphael pulled the sleeping toddler from Karai's arms, blanket and all. He cradled Leonardo close to his chest, briefly glancing down at his brother as he stepped farther away from the confused female ninja. Karai blinked once, then twice, not quite comprehending what had just happened. She stared at the bundle that was now in the red-masked turtle's arms and then up at the turtle himself. Raphael stared back for a few seconds before nodding and turning around. Before he reached the edge of the rooftop, he glanced over his shoulder.

"Go back to Japan, Karai." He told her. "Have your freedom and your _clean air_. But don't try to steal love for yourself. It just isn't worth it."


End file.
